“Aarambam” (Beginning) spelt as “Arrambam” happens to be Ajith’s 53rd film and his second one with director Vishnuvaradhan after Billa. Vishnuvardhan always has a niche of presenting his film in a stylish manner and he has maintained it even in this film and the style quotient of Ajith further adds impetus to the film. Ajith known to have a huge fan following has made sure that he doesn’t disappoint his die-hard fans a bit in this “Aarambam”.

The film in its initial stages looks like a lift from the English film “Sword Fish” however as things move on and the required masala ingredients gets added, it turns out that the “Sword Fish” theme is just a piece in the entire jigsaw puzzle. The film produced by A M Ratnam (though on records it shows as A Raghuram under Sri Satya Sai Movies) is a breezy entertainer and the makers have re-created the Billa magic once again on screen.

Ashok (Ajith) and Arjun (Arya) play accomplices along with Nayanthara and Taapsee Pannu as their pairs. There is Mahesh Manjrekar and Atul Kulkarni play the bad guys. But the film to begin with shows Ajith as a guy with dark shades and Arya as a person caught in the wrong foot due to circumstances.

The first half of the film runs for 75 minutes and it is this part that scorches ahead in express speed. However, a bit longer second half for 85 minutes does not have the same express pace as its predecessor mainly due to the emotional angle of the storyline being on display. Overall the film has a decent pace and if the second half would have been as racy as the first then this film would have been a exciting and brilliant entertainer throughout.

Ajith fans have got more than they expected considering that their Thala’s last film as hero in Billa 2 was a damp squib. Vishnuvardhan along with writer Subha has written the film and the two minds together have dished out the first hit of this Diwali considering that the film has been released a good two days before Diwali day and almost all theatres in Tamil Nadu are running to packed house for this two days giving this film an edge over Karthi’s “Azhaguraja” and Vishal’s “Pandia Nadu”.

Yuvan Shankar Raja has sizzled in background score and especially the theme music gives the adrenalin a good rush. Having said that, none of the songs linger in the mind which could have been avoided. Cinematography by Om Prakash has given this film a rich look while editing by Sreekar Prasad is slick for most part of the film.

The other cast in the film includes Rana Daggubati , Suman Raghunathan, Kishore, Akshara Gowda (best can be said as an appearance for an item number plus a couple of scenes) and five star Krishna to name a few.

With a running time of 160 minutes, this “Aarambam” has made sure that it is a fabulous “Thala” Deepavali for all Ajith fans and at the box office.

Ajith Kumar carries the same salt and pepper look that he sported in “Mankatha” and in his cameo appearance in “English Vinglish”. Arya carries the trendy poster boy image in this film while Nayanthara has once again given a stylish performance. Taapsee Pannu’s character requires her to have a bubbly and cheerful girl image which she carries throughout convincingly. Rana Daggubati plays a cameo role and floors everyone with his perfect physique.

In terms of acting, all the actors have done a commendable job and it is hard to point fingers at any of the actor for below par performance. Overall be warned that this film is nothing but a masala offering wrapped perfectly in a stylish wrapper.

“Aarambam” provides a fantastic opening for this Deepavali and is definitely worth the watch.